Dolores

The name is not the only new thing about "Dolores". That's to be expected. Bohren have a habit of producing something new. Twenty years is no flash in the pan. It's worth taking the time to re-listen to "Gore Motel" (1994) or "Midnight Radio" (1995) to recap on the astonishing path which the seemingly static formation by the name of Bohren have followed since they began in 1988 and released since their debut album in 1994.

What's that dripping noise? Orgelblut? (English: organ blood). Until now the organ has found no place in the experimental sound factory otherwise known as Bohren & Der Club of Gore. This organ communicates in a "lively" way with the Fender Rhodes. Later a vibraphone kicks in, something which has a similar effect to the once doubling of the bass guitars in the Bohren cosmos. More proof of the precise orchestration taking place in Bohren!

Since the year dot, the quartet from Cologne and Mülheim/Ruhr has always been good for a surprise. Bohren have radically taken the tempo out of their music, until every sound that seeps out of the loudspeakers can be met in all peace and quiet with the clap of a hand. That alone, however, does not represent the musical experiments of their now six albums. Just because Bohren deconstructs the parameters of space and time doesn't mean the band aren't playing rock. Nor does it mean they are playing jazz. They work with another kind of virtuosity.

There's a world of difference between reading about Bohren and listening to Bohren. Time and again critical reviews use phrases which hopelessly try to describe the confusing and unusual style of the band. The music is either "gloomy", "sinister", "eerily beautiful", "hypnotic", "mysterious", "edgy". Cinematic associations are also part and parcel of this, usually making an uninspiring connection to the films of David Lynch as underscored by the music of Angelo Badalamenti. But Bohren has never stood still long enough to warrant the same words.

When Bohren threw out the guitars after "Gore Motel" and "Midnight Radio" and took a saxophonist into their midst in the form of Christoph Clöser, the cards were reshuffled. The extremely slow but nonetheless melodious blend of saxophone, piano, organ, Fender Rhodes, vibes, bass and drums, which occasionally sounds like easy listening or bar jazz, was soon labelled "horror jazz" by the critics. Surprise, surprise! But were they just calling it "jazz" because radically slowed down ex-Doom Metal doesn't work when played in minor without the slightest trace of metal? Bohren's music is similar to the simple, experimental films of James Benning ("13 Lakes", "Ten Skies"): how do our senses respond when the habitual bombardment of visual and acoustic information no longer burdens us, when we're reduced to ourselves and really get the time to see and to listen. Bohren's music is not exactly the ideal background music for reading the Sunday paper. Bohren is the opposite of ambient. It's an proposition to the listener to confront him or herself with the power of the essential. Each tone seems to be chosen with infinite patience.

Looking back, "Black Earth" (2002) seems to be an attempt to expand the possibilities of new avenues explored in "Sunset Mission" (2000) in all their splendour, while the subsequent conceptual masterpiece, "Geisterfaust" (2005), carries the principles of reduction and compression to such extremes that it even put the fear of God into the most devoted Bohren fans. But at the same time the band used "Geisterfaust" to experiment with new "tone colours" (tuba, bass trombone, choir). If there's one thing Bohren doesn't do, it's repeating themselves. The unconventional pace of production tells a clear story. Every step is carefully thought through.

The new album, "Dolores", once again reveals a new side to Bohren & Der Club of Gore. Within the band, the members are unanimous that "Dolores" is a counterdraft to "Geisterfaust". But "Dolores" is not a break with it. It's part of the process.

Tracks like "Orgelblut", "Faul" (Lazy) or "Welten" (Worlds) completely conform with the continuity of the band. "Dolores", however, was never "conceived" as a counterdraft (Bohren doesn't work with concepts; they round off the final product once completed with a track title and cover design). Instead, the band discovered - one could even say permitted - another, new side to open up while working on "Dolores". In an interview, Christoph Clöser has described pieces like "Karin" or "Still am Tresen" (Silent at the Bar) as "slinky easy listening numbers". For the first time, the album feels like it's made up of singles, not only because of their length. By Bohren's usual standards, the pieces on "Dolores" are significantly shorter, only "Schwarze Biene" (Black Bee) runs over 8 minutes. In addition, the structures of the songs are clearer, the melodies (vibes!) more tangible. To put it in a nutshell: by Bohren standards, "Dolores" is a clear step towards pop. The pieces develop very incidentally, they seem close at hand, accessible, and yet still remain mysterious. The organ and a certain spatiality created during production give "Dolores" a sublime, almost religious touch which has always been inherent in the idea of deceleration. This touch is now clearly audible. In this way, Bohren & Der Club of Gore has decided to reposition themselves with some tracks (and provide yet another surprise for their fans!), and so "Dolores" remains true to Bohren. The contextualisation of the new music through track titles and cover design - always an important aspect of Bohren's work - underlines this: there is "dolor" (pain) in "Dolores", but Dolores also stands for the hot-blooded, sharp-tongued bar mistresses in B-Westerns south of the border. The cover design echoes Edvard Munch's "The Scream", as well as anatomical copperplate engravings and "The Silence of the Lambs" (and no doubt dozens of other references). Track titles like "Schwarze Biene" or "Unkerich" (a comic figure) are testament to the often whacky humour of the musicians - something which has always been overlooked, particularly in labelling their music "Horror Jazz". Such dynamics between pathos and laconicism, between seriousness, silliness and coolness (also) protect the unpredictable band from generalisations in the media. Until now (fingers crossed).

Bohren's habit of making music which often makes the listener feel like he or she is stuck in some dark room in which the oxygen is slowly and mercilessly being extracted has changed with "Dolores". When listening to "Dolores", listeners are sure to get feeling that - after all these years - the shutters are being raised, the windows thrown open, fresh air and sunlight are flooding into the room. Quite by chance, the most natural thing in the world, cool, crisp and brazen.